The historical development of this invention, the EKB, can be examined from three general perspectives: (1) weight; (2) utility; and (3) function.
1. Kit Bag Weight
Pilots, and other transportation professionals, routinely carry extremely heavy bags, full of paraphernalia specific to their art, including maps, calculators, logs, charts, navigation instruments, and so on. This bag is usually referred to as a “kit bag” and generally, for an aviation professional, for example, weights between 30 and 80 pounds. According to FAA Medical and Workman's Compensation statistics, the most common loss of work time, on the job injuries, in this work group are related to moving, carry and stowing the “kit bag”: torn shoulder ligaments, dislocated elbows, “slipped disk” back problems, and knee joint problems.
The problem of the heavy kit bag/injured pilot has been attempted to be solved by at least one other means, adding wheels and a handle to the kit bag, roller-suitcase style.
The following invention was originally conceived with the intention of simply solving the weight problem, as the entire contents of a traditional kit bag can be reduced to a very light electronic equivalent. However, in developing the project, other innovative and highly functional properties became apparent.
2. Utility
The current kit bag can be compared to a cumbersome sideways drawer. An area is generally left in the cockpit, to the right or left of the pilot, where the kit bag can be placed. In flight, if an item is needed from the kit bag, there often ensues an unpacking, rummaging and hunting expedition into the kit bag for the sought after manual, tool, chart, log or other desired item. The pilot is taken out of the flying-loop while this hunting expedition is in progress. Another draw-back of the old-fashioned kit bag is the traditional coffee-spill. Coffee-cup holders in the cockpit are generally placed right above the kit back stowage compartment. A kit bag is not considered “broken in” until at least one cup of coffee, orange juice or other non-paper friendly liquid has spilled into the contents of the kit bag and ruined the most important documents needed for the flight in progress, as well as any other important paperwork contained therein.
Further, the traditional kit bag must be hauled around like an additional suitcase. It is here that most on-the-job injuries occur: removing the kitbag from too tight of a storage area, heaving it into overhead bins, lifting it in and out of vans and storage facilities.
The utility problem has heretofore not been successfully addressed. Although, traditionally kit bags are made in various shapes and from various sorts of materials (including tin, plastic-covered card-board, canvas, etc.), they all only serve to hold contents in a standard method with the result being bulky, cumbersome and heavy.
The EKB approaches the problem from another perspective. By changing the contents of the kit bag, the nature of the exterior of the “bag” is also modified. The E6-B slide rule is a device, for instance, which can eliminate some wind charts and solve some airspeed/ground speed calculations. The handheld calculator, designed for the same function, was an electronic advancement, as is the Performance Management System, an integrated on-board aircraft system. Although these devices may individually partially contribute to certain aspects of a kit bag's contents and function (See Section 3 below), none address the concept of deleting the load or form of the kit bag in any way, let alone the entirety of all functional aspects of a kit bag. The EKB is light weight and easily manipulated. It can be moved without undue stress, strain or physical contortion. In use, it will not be below the coffee holders! Less physical storage place is needed, resulting in more cockpit room. Also, less weight is carried on-board, resulting in substantial and measurable fuel savings.
3. Function
As mentioned, with the traditional kit bag, the pilot must rummage through the contents in search of the needed material(s), taking the pilot out the immediate operating loop, and costing precious time, especially in an emergency. Often needed particulars are located in separate and disparate areas. The pilot may need to consult one manual for operating parameters, another book of charts for an off-line emergency airport, another manual for the emergency procedure, while simultaneously talking with dispatch or operations on a radio. The other pilot (in generally two-person airline crew) is left alone to fly a possibly crippled airplane, talk to the flight attendants and passengers, and negotiate with air-traffic control.
Few attempts have been made to alleviate the duress caused by this plethora of unrelated information presented in physically unrelated forms. One limited suggestion known to this inventor was an on-board type computer which used an aircraft up-link device to manage charts. This failed FAA certification, however, partly because it relied on aircraft power. The EKB, while providing much more information as well as information processing, relies on internal battery power (although it can be “charged” from aircraft power as well). The FAA has provided, incidentally, provisional operating permission for use of the EKB on-board.
The EKB requires learning only simple key-stroke patterns to be a superior replacement for the traditional kit bag and contents in many operating situations. Optimal functionality is acquired when all mentioned inputs are interfaced and electronically “evaluated.” Several steps can be incorporated in one or a few input strokes from a proficient operator.
Additionally, the EKB has the potential capability to actually “fly” the aircraft within certain parameters to a touch-down and landing.
A major improvement over the traditional “kit bag” is that the computerized version can manipulate data in a non-linear algorithm, aggregating and sorting choices, thereby aiding in decision-making processes resulting in solutions to mathematical computations, runway selection, operating parameters, figuring pilot fatigue limits and scheduling issues.
In addition, output solutions can be interfaced with the craft, auto-pilot style, so that a craft could be manipulated through the EKB via radio/satellite/other mode transmissions by a ground operator in certain emergencies, such as crew incapacitation. There have been, over the years, various reports of pilots becoming unconscious due to hypoxia, or loss of consciousness due to altitude and lack of oxygen, while the aircraft, still connected to the autopilot, flies stalwartly ahead until simply running out of fuel and plunging earthbound with occupants, although unconscious, still presumably alive. This calamity is further magnified by where the aircraft might randomly crash, endangering and destroying more lives and property.